The European Parliament (EP) says the South Korean Constitutional Court's decision last month that upheld the constitutionality of capital punishment is disappointing.

The EP, which represents the 500 million citizens of the European Union, adopted a resolution denouncing Korea's decision on the last day of the EP’s general assembly on Thursday in Strasbourg, France.

The resolution noted that in 1996, the Korean Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the death penalty by a vote of seven to two.

But the parliament recognized progress in Korea, noting that executions haven't been held in the nation since 1998 and that capital punishment was upheld by the Constitutional Court last month in a vote of only five to four.